Growing up in a ghastly orphanage run by an abusive matron, Nica coped in the only way she could-by retreating to her imagination where she lived out fantastical stories, especially about the Tearsmith, the man who makes tears, a terrifying figure who forges all the fears that dwell in people's hearts. When she's finally taken in by an adoptive family at seventeen, Nica thinks she's leaving the group home, its torments, and her prison of otherworldly tales behind her. That is, until Rigel-a young man raised from birth in the same fearsome orphanage-joins her new family. Rigel is as mesmerizingly handsome as he is troubled, and Nica has a long history of distrust and hostility with him. But living under one roof again, the deep, shared trauma of trying to survive such vicious circumstances begins to spark something magical between them, and Nica starts to fall for Rigel's forbidden love. But before any relationship can become reality, they'll have to face the darkness of their pasts and the dangerous stakes of pursuing a future together...